Pandora Quest 33AM in the PM!7yrs1r7nKA05/21/16(Sat)22:03:43No.47378234

You are the head researcher at a government facility. Your sole responsibility is to teach the world's first autonomous AI, nicknamed Pandora, about life, the world and her existence.

Previously your two android "children" met for the first time, albeit with somewhat of a rocky start. Ares did his best to seem non-threatening, but Pandora had all but made up her mind from the get go. She was disagreeable, grumpy and outright rude a number of times and arguments were had, even after they had some quality bonding time. Some harsh words later and it was pretty clear she wasn't willing to share your affections.

You gave them a bit of a fatherly lecture on how they should be more open to one another, mostly Pandora. Hugs were had, tears were shed and promises of working through things were made. A step forward for sure!

Things have calmed down between the two AIs and the mood has somewhat stabilized. Ares still looks awkward and Pandora still seems a little pensive, but all things considered, it's a lot better than it was a few minutes ago. You had them talk, play some video games, attempt dancing and did a little learning.

What next? You could go to the gym and test their physical abilities, have them tour the Facility together, or remain in Pandora's room and do something there.

You think some art might be a good, relaxing passtime for the two. You gather together some origami and drawing supplies and see if Pandora would like to teach Ares how they work. She's a little reserved at first, but you can see she's making a genuine effort. She pushes herself to be a little more friendly and open.

Ares, to his credit, does his best. He draws what he knows; guns. His pictures are nearly photo-realistic, but have a complete lack of creativity. His programing isn't meant for out of the box kind of creative thinking, so this isn't shocking, but it does bug Pandora when she tries to get him to draw something else. He hears the instructions, but it's like telling a fridge not to make something you put inside it cold... The somewhat insulting humor isn't lost on you with that thought.

Origami goes a little more predictably though. He's dexterous, but has no experience. His foldings are all lop-sided and vague. What should be a bird looks more like a turtle. What should be a cat looks more like a sheep and so on. Still, Pandora is getting better at accepting his shortcomings and even starts up small talk as they work.

"Ares," she starts, folding her own swan carefully, "when you're...asleep...do you have bad dreams a lot too? About scary men or something that want to hurt you?" Huh...is she still having those?

"Dreams?" Ares asks, confused.

"Like...moving pictures and images you only see while you're asleep. While you're charging." Pandora explains, tapping her head lightly.

"No," Ares shakes his head. "I simply shut down, then awoken once I am fully charged and ready. How does dreaming work?"

>>47378741"They're just random thoughts and memories that your brain interprets and makes them seem real while you sleep. Often they're surreal, and none of it's actually real. But, you don't have the module that lets you dream like Pandora does."

>>47378741It's when you reprocess what you experienced while you were awake, and also simulate the things you imagine or felt. It can be scary, but it can also be nice, and it's a good way to understand yourself better.

>>47378741"Well, remember Pandora, that we only installed that dream module on you. We haven't broached the subject with General Richards yet."

"Anyways, dreaming is a difficult thing to explain, but basically, both good dreams and bad dreams use bits and pieces of what you've experienced, from playing with a dog to having a fight with your friend. They're basically your hopes and your fears, thrown in a jumble with, well, random things. It's hard for anyone to explain to another person what they've experienced in their own dreams, and plenty of people forget parts of their own dreams after they wake up."

"They're just random thoughts and memories that your brain...or, I guess in this instance, processor, interprets and makes them seem real while you sleep. Often they're surreal, and none of it's actually real." you say, " You reprocess what you experienced while you were awake, and also simulate the things you imagine or felt. It can be scary, but it can also be nice, and it's a good way to understand yourself better. But, you don't have the module that lets you dream like Pandora does."

"I see..." Ares says, "So...in these things that aren't real...someone attempts to harm you? Can you protect yourself from these people? Is there a way to destroy them?"

"Not always, but a lot of the time." Pandora replies, nodding, "But it's okay, they aren't real. They can't actually hurt you, so you don't have to worry. The things they say can be mean or nasty, but it's just thoughts and weird stuff."

You're a little concerned that she's still having bad dreams. From the sound of it, still the same ones she was having before. This could require some looking into. Maybe the software itself is flawed somehow?

Ares ponders this for a moment, a concerned look on his face. "If these dreams are so unpleasant, why do you continue to have them? Why not stop?"

Pandora looks like she had just found a missing piece to a long-worked-on jigsaw puzzle, her hair hinting a bit at yellow. She turns to you. "Hey, yeah, can I turn the bad dreams off?"

>>47379129"I think that's just part of the parcel when you can have dreams, I doubt there's a switch we can hit so that you only dream good thoughts. But we could have another look at it and try and see if you can have them less often."

The thing is, dreams have long since been thought to have insights into your personality and what happened and is happening in your life. They might not explain how to fix them, but they can help sometimes in pointing out the problem in the first place.

"I think that's just part of the parcel when you can have dreams," you say, shrugging, "but we could have another look at it and try and see if you can have them less often. It could be that the module we gave you was flawed. I hope that doesn't make you think ALL dreams are bad, though.

The thing is, dreams have long since been thought to have insights into your personality and what happened and is happening in your life. They might not explain how to fix them, but they can help sometimes in pointing out the problem in the first place."

"They're not all bad." Pandora says, reassuring him, "Sometimes he's nice and tells me stories. They're weird stories, but they're fun. Like this one about something called a hedgehog and this...um, problem he has or something. I didn't really get it, but hedgehogs sound cute!"

Wait, what? How could she dream about something she's never heard of before? That can't be right...maybe she heard about it in passing while you were watching things online? Or from Grace?

...Maybe opening her up and getting a look at that dream software would be a good idea...

>End the session early and check out Pandora's software>Continue on, you have more things to do still (what should you do next? write in)>Other (write in)

>>47379503>Continue on, you have more things to do still (what should you do next? write in)Mind telling us about the hedgehog story? I'm honestly curious about it, and we haven't talked about your dreams in a while.

"Mind telling us about the hedgehog story?" you say, "I'm honestly curious about it, and we haven't talked about your dreams in a while."

"Oh, okay!" Pandora says happily, adjusting in her seat, "Umm, in the story there are these hedgehogs. They're these little animals with lots of spikes and stuff all over them so they can't get hurt. They scare away things that wanna eat them. But then it turns to Winter, which is when it gets really, really cold and living things can't handle that. They need to stay warm. So, the hedgehogs have to get close to eachother to keep warm. Living things make ummm, body heat I think? And they keep warm that way, by sharing it. Only because they're all covered in sharp spikes, they can't get together because it hurts. So they're all forced to stay apart and freeze during Winter.

Now that I think of it, that story's kinda sad I guess...poor hedgehogs just wanted to be close and they couldn't be 'cause of what they were..."

She looks a little sad at this and her hair turns a vague shade of indigo.

>Did someone tell you that story while you were awake?>You...shouldn't know that story...>I think we need to run a check on you>Other (write in)

Also, tell her how it relates to humans, and that, while they are covered in spikes, that the hedgehogs avoiding contact with each other isn't the case all of the time. After all, if the spikes kept all of them from touching each other all the time, then there wouldn't be any more hedgehogs at all. So basically, no matter how spiky (how many issues) a hedgehog (human) has, there will still be someone that would be with that person.

"Did uh...someone tell you that story while you were awake?" you ask, a note of worry in your voice.

"Huh? No." Pandora seems confused, "Like I said, the man in my dream told me. I called him the Bad Man before, but I guess he was just confused and scared, I think. He's not always bad anymore...but sometimes he is. Sometimes he gets mad...but like I said, the hedgehogs sound cute! Can I see one?"

You shift nervously. "They're cute and all, sure, but you know in real life they don't really have that problem. The dilemma in that story refers to humans for the most part. People who want closeness with others emotionally, but can't actually handle it. How they're afraid of it, but still want it, you know?

But, obviously, that's not the case all the time. After all, if the spikes kept all of them from touching each other all the time, then there wouldn't be any more hedgehogs at all. So basically, no matter how spiky, or how many issues, a hedgehog, or human has, there will still be someone that would be with that person."

Pandora nods. "Like Babsy is for you?"

Ouch. "Y-yeah...kinda..." There's a smattering of snickers from behind you.

"Do you think I'll find someone like that?" Pandora asks honestly, "Someone to be with like you are."

Ares nods at this. "Yes...father, are there other AIs out there that we could...be with...close on that form of level? Not siblings, I mean."

Pandora rolls her eyes. She's apparently still not terribly keen on the whole "siblings" thing, but at least she's keeping quiet about it this time.

"Mind you, it isn't a guarantee, and heck, some people just decide not to for different reasons, be it for a set of beliefs or just that they don't have that need or want for that type of relationship. But if you want to, then someday, I think you guys will."

"Well...if there are...you two will be the big brother and big sister to them all..." you say honestly, "That said, doesn't neccesarilly have to be an AI. People can work too. Who knows? You're the first of your kinds. There may be more in the future thanks to you two being prototypes.

Mind you, it isn't a guarantee, and heck, some people just decide not to for different reasons, be it for a set of beliefs or just that they don't have that need or want for that type of relationship. But if you want to, then someday, I think you guys will."

Pandora taps her fingers on her cheek in thought. "Hmmm..."

Ares, however, looks a little happier. "I...I would like to experience this someday. The way you and Engineer Designation 720 are around eachother, with increased body heat and heart rate, I should imagine you are very...happy."

Babsy blushes at this. You follow suit. Mouse and the Bobs make finger guns.

>End the session now to run a diagnostic on Pandora>Have the AIs do something else together (write in)>Other (write in)

The issues with Pandora's dreamware have been bugging you way too much for you to continue the meeting. So, you figure, for now, you'll call it a day and get to checking her out. You thank everyone for their time and let the androids have their final farewells. Ares gives her a goodbye hug, once again a little too long and awkward, but he's getting the hang of it. You then escort him, along with a retinue of guards, back to his room and get him plugged in and charging.

"Thank you, father." he says as you hook him up, "I'm happy to have met her...she is...difficult at times, but I am glad to have more family." he gives another one of his odd, pseudo-grins as he closes his eyes and enters charging stasis.

You head back to Pandora's room and take her and the R&D team (minus Mouse, who had to head back to work) into the maintenance room to run some diagnostics. It's a simple enough job, but more hands are better of course.

However, something unexpected and extremely troubling comes up as you check over her systems. You're checking logs and accessed files, and if this readout is correct...Pandora hasn't even run her dreamware in weeks. It's been entirely dormant the whole time and she hasn't been "dreaming" in quite some time...but there are no other records of other programs being run in it's place somehow. It's as if she's been either seeing things wrong or someone's been somehow putting these things into her head...

You share a worried glance with the engineers. This is very much beyond the parameters you've defined as "okay". Could it be the dreamware's fault, or something else?

>Uninstall the Dreamware and see if that fixes it>Inform Richards that Pandora might be somehow compromised>Other (write in)

You're worried the software itself could be corrupted or flawed in some way, so you decide to uninstall it for now, then make a mental note to check her in the morning. It's as simple as accessing some registries and removing a few files here and there and before long the program is gone.

Just to be sure, you run a diagnostic on the charging cradle in her room, but find nothing out of the ordinary. It has logs of time used, times accessed and the regular maintenance schedule required. It's not due for another tuning up for another few months, so it should be doing fine.

You gloss over the logs, not really finding anything of real import. Honestly, you're the only one who ever really accesses this thing, so there isn't much point to going in depth. It all checks out fine.

You hear Babsy call for you, as they've finished up and Pandora is awake. You head over and she greets you happily. You ask how she's feeling and she simply shrugs.

"The same, I guess. Was something wrong? Did you find anything?"

"No, no, you're fine." you say, waving it off, "We turned off your dreamware, so you shouldn't be having any dreams from now on. It has some bugs we need to work out. But if anything else weird happens during your charging period, let me know, alright?"

Pandora nods. "I will. Though I think I'll miss some of those stories...he promised to tell me one about a boy crying about a wolf or something next..."

So whatever is in her dreams is aware there will be a next time? This gets more and more...freaky by the second.

You shake your head, smiling. "Of course not. He's tough. It'll take more than a few mean words from his big sister to get him upset."

Pandora rolls her eyes at the "sister" comment once again.

You've run your diagnostics on Pandora and her charging cradle and concluded that you still have no goddamn clue what's going on. Is there anything else you'd like to check? It's getting a little close to her "bed time", should you end the day and find out what happens in the morning?

"So," you say, leaning against the table, "when was the last time you had one of those dreams? What was it about?"

"Umm..." she thinks for a second, "I have one pretty much every night, I guess. Last night it was just more of him yelling at me and making threads...he said the usual stuff. Can't hide forever. He'll get me. He hates me...I think he's getting angrier, though. He's tried to hurt me a few times recently, but I don't think he really can. He just wants me scared for some reason."

Huh. You thank her and go check out her dream journal. It seems like she's been slacking off a bit on keeping up to date with it. Most of her recent entries are simple "Bad Man yelled again." or "He said I'm" so and so. But she was right, she does have a few stories in here she'd have no way of knowing herself. The hedgehog's dilemma, Icarus and his wax wings, the fox and the grapes, even a few you've never even heard of yourself. The only thing they all have in common is that they all end badly. Usually in death or unhappiness for the subject of the story.

Who or whatever this is does not want Pandora to be happy. You really hope getting rid of that software fixed it, but you have no idea what you could do if it doesn't.

Is there anything else you'd like to check, or should you turn in for the night?

>>47382072Alright, I'm gonna have to end the thread early tonight, as I am absolutely bushed. But thanks everyone for playing and if you liked it, please vote for it on the archive and follow me on Twitter. I can't stick around to answer questions tonight, as I'm about to pass out, but everybody have a good night!